Falling
by wanderthestars
Summary: Everything seems to be going wrong with Derek's life. He has lost all of his family, his only pack member hates him, and he's now stuck with a couple of kids that he just turned into fugitives. Then he finds an odd boy in a river one day claiming to be a star. A/N this story is undergoing some renovations due to the poorly written works within, so please just bear with me
1. Prologue

Today was the Hale family's annual hunt. The Hale family was particularly large, and only a few lived in Beacon Hills, the rest residing in other rural villages and remote locations. They preferred geographic isolation, but never could stand being alone. The Hale's were exceptionally familial for such an intense and spread out pack, but this made each and every reunion so much greater, especially for Derek.

The younger children of the family were never allowed to go on the hunts in an attempt to preserve their fragile naivety and innocence. The innocence and naivety of a werewolf, though, can only be preserved for so long, so once a Hale reached the age of ten they were allowed on the hunts as a sort-of rite of passage. This year Derek turned ten. Not until after the hunt, but they made an exception so that Derek would'nt feel left out. It was about eight in the morning and the family had just congregated at the Hale house for a quick debriefing.

Derek ran out of the house in a pair of old jeans and a red t-shirt with an extraordinary grin on his face. The Hales were talking in a mob formation, standing relatively close to each other ad making it difficult for Derek to see everyone. The one person he certainly did see, though, was his Uncle Peter.

"Uncle Peter! You said you weren't coming this year," Derek cooed.

"Well where did you hear that, Derek? I certainly never told you," Peter responded, a smug grin forming on his face.

"I maybe...possibly...could have heard you fighting with mom on the phone. You said you had business to attend to."

"What business could be more important than the Hale hunt?"

Derek smiled at his uncle. His dad, an intense figure with broad shoulders but a warm demeanor stood on the patio. "Listen up everyone. This year will be a bit of the routine work as usual. Our main goal is deer and bear. Go ahead an pick off anything else you wish to, but be wary of the smaller populations. Also, Talia, Peter, and Myself will be patrolling for a rival pack that has been toying with our borders. Make sure to stay within our territory and do not aggress any omegas on the way. Let the hunt begin." Everyone jolted into the woods, turning halfway or even all the way wolf. They set off in packs of two and three mostly. Immediate families stuck together, as per ususal. Derek ran off behind a few of his cousins, but had trouble keeping up. Once they were out of sight he stopped and looked around.

He stood in a grave of autumn trees, brown, withered leaves lying below his feet. He could hear absolutely nothing, even with his werewolf hearing. In fact, his sense weren;t picking up anything. This is when he started to fear. It was never quiet, he could always hear the pulsing heart of a small rabbit or the wind howling through the hills. He smelled nothing. He started turning around, over and over, as if his spinning would fix the issue. Then he saw a figure ahead.

"Dad?" he cried, relieved. Derek began running towards the broad figure, a chill leaving his body with each step.

Again, he stopped. The silhouette hadn't responded. No movement, no sigh, nothing.

"Peter?" he whimpered, a desperationg growing in his voice. He took a few steps forward.

Nothing.

"Mom..." the cry was no longer a question, but a frantic hope. But this wasn't mom. Or Peter. Or dad.

The figure moved forward with agression in its step. It pulled out a sharp object from its side and with a swift motion towards him Derek could no longer see. He screamed in absolute agony and brought his hands up to his eyes. He felt thick wetness seeping down his face, way too much to be tears.

"Enough. We don't want to kill him. We just needed an injury that induced a scream." Derek heard. The voice was smooth. It had an British accent and belonged to a man.

"Come on, I've been stuck with him for months. I wanted to have a bit of fun before the big bang tonight." This voice belonged to a girl. She was younger, probably around Derek's age. She sounded sweet. Derek was comforted by this voice, though. It sounded familiar. Sorta of like-

"No, Kate. Go hide before his mother comes." The male reprimanded.

It was Kate. Kate, the person he like-liked. They had been friends for two months now. 'Why was she saying "stuck with him" like a bad thing, ' he thought, 'I thought she liked me, too.' Derek felt defeated. He just lay there, sadness enveloping him. He heard another pair of footsteps approaching, rushed and accompanied by two others. He still could'nt smell anything but iron, but he knew it was his mom.

"Wow, Talia. You look gorgeous." The man commented.

He heard the man's footsteps near him. They were heavy and confident. Then something blunt hit his head and it went black.

Derek wakes up in his bed, he is pretty sure. His vision is still extremely blurry and the pain in his head is making everything harder to understand. He glances over towards his doorway and Peter is standing there. He sorta looks surprised.

"Peter?" Derek mumbles.

"I'm here, Derek. How are you feeling? Can you see?" Peter urges him.

"I can see a little bit...it's just really blurry. And my head hurts."

"It'll go away after a good night's rest, kiddo."

"What happened? I remember voices and I think Kate was there and-" Derek chokes up a little.

Peter's hand is rubbing his back now. "It's okay. Just some strays looking for trouble. And I don't think Kate was there. You probably just hit your head on the way down and started imaginging things to make yourself feel better. Brain does funny things like that."

"Okay," Derek mumbled inaudibly. He was tired and consciousness was fleeting fast.

"I love you, Derek," Petere kissed his forehead.

"Love you, Uncle Peter," Derek said, slipping into sleep.

Peter covered Derek with his comforter and shut the main light off. He sat outside of Derek's room just thinking for a bit, because who messes with the Hale's? Wait, who blinds little kids? Peter was just baffled with the whole situation and needed sleep himself. He shut his eyes and tried to tune in to the conversations downstairs. Everyone had stayed at the Hale home this hunt because of the attack. Someone was attacking the family. Two of the cousins had already been killed before the hunt and now this whole situation with Derek. No one was risking going back home. They were stronger united. Peter was just falling into unconsciousness just as he heard the calm conversations downstairs turn into screams.

He raced down he stairs and saw his family surrrounded by flames. His neices and nephews sobbed, his cousins yelled for help, and he saw a glimpse of his family huddled together. The inferno was closing in on them and one of the flames grabbed his son's shirt and lit his whole outift on fire. Peter screamed for them to run, to burst through the flames, but the ceiling was falling and people were becoming illuminated with fire. The support beams fell in front of Peter and he was cut off, left to hear the doomed cries of his entire family. "Peter, save the kids! Get as many people out as possible!" Talia shrieked above the noise.

Peter turned around and saw Laura standing behind him, rubbing her eyes, in a trance. She was sleep- walking. Peter picked up Laura and bounded up the stairs. He hauled Derek over his back and went to the stairs. The flames were crawling up faster then they should have, eating away each step and devouring the railing. He turned around and went to the window where he saw the roof jutted out about ten feet below. another fifteen feet beyond that was the ground. He set down Laura and Derek and grabbed the now wide-awak Laura by the shoulders.

"Do you know how to get down?" Peter interrogated.

"Yeah..." Laura responded, scared and shaking.

"Get down then. Take Derek with you. Go straight to the police station. Don't look back, you can't, and take care of Derek."

Peter rose and turned around. He paused, and then disappeared into the pool of flames that used to be the stairs. Laura picked up the still passed out Derek and climbed down to the ground. She now heard the low groans and shrieks emitted from the house. She felt warmth at her back and the house threw distorted shadows in front of her, bodies twisting and boards falling. She started sobbing and ran forward, but never looked back.


	2. A Fun Chat and A Boy In A Blue Comforter

Derek woke up to high-pitched screaming. Confused, he groggily opened his eyes, shivering a bit at the cool morning air. He looked down and the blanket was gone, as well as his new friend and the naked couple. He got scared and jolted up, scouring the Jeep and the clearing. There was no sight of any of his company. He ran into the forest barefoot, feeling the mud collect on his feet as he squished through the waking forest. He was starting to lose control; his face contorting, eyes burning a deep red, claws sprouting from his fingertips, and a low growl vibrating through his body. He was trying to stay human, but his worry was starting to get the better of him. The sun was just reaching the horizon as he came to the river, painting the sky a lovely reddish-green. On the river bank sat Allison, Scott, and a boy in a blue comforter. They were all huddled together to keep warm, when Allison screeched in excitement, it would be the first time she ever saw the sunrise. Derek nearly fainted with relief, his wolf counterparts scurrying into his skin once again. He was about to walk up and sit next to them when he saw the bite on Scott's shoulder.

Derek silently stepped back. He wasn't scared of the new wolf, nor was he angry at him, Derek just saw how happy the three were, and they probably won't be happy for a while after this. So he just tiptoed back to the car and tried to relax, which didn't work. Not too long after Derek got back, he could hear the chatty teenagers skipping back to the car. The couple seemed to be so amused with the mysterious boy. Derek stood up to face the teenagers as they arrived; he made sure he looked intimidating. He walked over to Scott, "I need to talk to you."

"What is it" Scott responded. He lifted his hand and rubbed the bite. He was definitely sore from the bite, but it was throughout his whole body. It was like he was getting sick just from the bite. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Derek asked, trying to flow his way into the difficult conversation Scott had to hear. "Yeah, my whole body is sore and I'll just get angry and…" Scott rambled, obviously having a mood swing. "I know," Derek said "It happens with the transformation." Way to be subtle, Derek thought to himself. Scott looked up and into Derek's eyes. Derek could see the fear and the pain he was in. "Tonight is going to be a full moon. We're going to have to stay here. I can teach you" Derek's mind trailed off…

Twelve years earlier

"Derek! Come on, the water's soooo nice" his sister screamed from the water, mocking him. Derek was about to sulk off, he had had about enough of his sister, always up showing him and casting all the attention onto her. His family probably wouldn't even notice if he disappeared, he thought, then maybe I should disappear. "Wait," his sister screamed, "I can teach you" Derek was so excited! This was the first time his sister ever wanted to do something with him, it felt like fam—

Derek jolted back into reality. Scott looked like he was on the verge of tears, but he kept himself together. "You'll be part of my pack, though." Derek said. "What? No! I won't do that! I have to go back home, I need to be with my mom and Allison. I can't just leave that all behind!" Scott was on the verge of screaming. Derek did admire his intense loyalty, but he needed a pack. An alpha is nothing without his pack. "You can't go back Scott." Derek replied, attempting to remain calm.

"It is my choice, not yours."

"Actually, it isn't your choice. When kill your little girlfriend it won't be your choice, when you tear apart your mother, your friends, your school it won't be your choice. When you are fully shifted, tearing out throats, it won't be your choice when the hunters come after you! It's going to be a bloody mess and you're going to end up like my uncle or even worse. Do you know what people would do to us if they found out? Do you know what the hunters would do if they found out about us!?"

Derek was shifting now, skin at a feverish temperature and anger bubbling through him. He doesn't understand what it's like yet; you have to calm down, Derek thought. He slowly closed his eyes and shifted back. He could feel Allison and the boy staring at him from behind, surprised by the sudden rage that had been accidentally triggered. Scott was shaking, terrified, but still standing his ground. His bravery is borderline idiocy, Derek thought. "Tonight you are going to shift. Now would you like to do this alone?" Derek stated, much calmer now but still very scary. "No." Scott said, defeated-sounding. Scott walked off to his girlfriend to try and explain things, abandoning Derek before he could continue the conversation. Derek decided to take a walk.

He could hear quick, clumsy footsteps behind him, half-jogging-half-walking. It's like he doesn't know how to move, Derek thought. Derek acted like he didn't notice he had a tagalong just in case its intentions were a bit less than friendly. He unsheathed his claws and hid them by crossing his arms. He walked for about another five minutes, his stalker still not getting any closer and still moving like he was just learning how to walk. Just then he heard a twig snap and a quick "oof" escapes the stalker before he fell down into the dirt face first. Derek rolled to the nearest tree and peeked around to see who it was. There was a heap of ocean blue fabric on the ground, a few muffled sobs coming from the pile. He walked over and slightly lifted the blanket, revealing the boy, tears running down his cheeks. "Are you okay?" Derek asked, sincerely concerned. "I don't know." The boy responded, flustered with himself. Derek kneeled down to get more comfortable. The boy looked up at Derek, fascinated by his face "What's this?" the boy asked, pointing to Derek's stubble. Derek was speechless. The eyes, he had the eyes. They were so round with big brown irises, but a little red from his crying. He reached out in innocent wonder and started rubbing Derek's beard with his hand. He then started rubbing his head against the stubble, "Hehe it tickles." He giggled, amazed by the fact that there was hair on Derek's face.

Derek just kept staring, trying to form words but his lips just would form gibberish. The teenager wrapped the blanket around him tighter and tried to stand up, screaming out in pain as he tried. "Is you k!?" Derek felt like an idiot, it was like he was so amazed that some kid had brown eyes that he knew that he forgot how to speak. The boy fell backwards. "No, this" He moaned and pointed to his knee. It was a little bit bloody and looked to be going a little to the left in the wrong direction. "Your leg?" Derek asked, fumbling to find words. The boy shook his head up and down, face clenched in pain. Derek picked him up gently "What's your name?" Derek wondered out loud. " I'm Stiles, and your name is Derek!" Stiles beamed at him like he just got an answer right in class after raising his hand. "Stiles, we're going to head back to the car and get you some clothes, how does that sound?" "Sound like a whole lot of fun!" Stiles giggled, making Derek's frown twist into a smile.


	3. Through The Woods

A/N This takes place right after Peter has been killed after going off on a rampage and biting scott.

Derek had been driving for hours now, and Scott and Allison had fallen asleep in each other's arms a while ago. The corpse in the backseat was beginning to rot, the pungent odor clogging his nostrils and causing him to gag, so he decided to stop for the night in a little opening in the nearby woods. Derek climbed out of the car, opened the back door, and slung the blood-soaked carcass over his shoulders. He trudged over to a nearby tree and started digging into the ground with his bare hands. With his newfound strength it didn't take long to dig up a pit and placed his deceased family member into the cold earth. What a bitter way to end a life, Derek thought, and walked off, seemingly unfazed.

The new alpha wandered not keeping track of where he was going, but rather his environment. These woods were different than the ones at home. There was a lush rug of tall grass on the ground with a handful of fox bells and ferns scattered around. The trees were sturdy and large, their branches creating a roof that protected the beauty on the ground. It smelled like wet soil after a thunderstorm, and the air was crisp, causing Derek to shiver just a bit. His heightened senses allowed him to hear the movement of the forest: the rush of the whispering wind through the shaking leaves, the coo of an owl in the distance, and a pack of wolves, scurrying to huddle together before the early morning chill set into this untouched preserve. Derek didn't have a pack, or even a partner; Derek was completely and utterly alone, and it bothered him, but he would never let that show.

The glassy-eyed wolf walked into another clearing. This one had a quaint river running through it. He lay down and looked up into the star-ridden sky. Derek didn't quite understand why people underestimated things like the twilight sky. It wasn't black with little yellow dots everywhere, it was rather a dark blue, purple at some points, speckled with lots of spots, blue, white, yellow, and green, some clustered, some not. His family never really understood why he was so serious around them, but not his parents or uncle, so he respected them as much as he respected the people who underestimated the beauty of the sky. It isn't as simple as a basic assumption and neither am I, Derek thought. Derek knew he was overthinking things, once again, so he shut his eyes, and just listened again. He expected to be calmed by the water and maybe a few crickets, but this time he heard something strange, something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up…a heartbeat.

He opened his eyes and rose up. Derek heard it again, that heartbeat, and he was absolutely sure it wasn't his this time. He started running left and the heartbeat started to fade quickly. Derek slid to a halt and started walking the other way; there was no way he was going to lose whoever's heartbeat this was. This heartbeat was human, Derek knew that, but it was dying. Actually it was fighting; slowly losing ground, but it was trying to survive. Derek looked down into the river, and he saw a boy. He was just lying there as the water just flowed over him. Derek reached into the freezing water and gently lifted the boy with haste. He was so cold and…those lips; his hair…Derek recognized this teenage boy, but he didn't know from where, but wherever he was from, this being reminded Derek of safety and home. Derek could see he was shaking, almost convulsing now, so he held the boy close to his chest, trying to heat him up. Arms enveloped around the unconscious boy, Derek headed back to the car, not noticing the utter nakedness of the boy until now.

At the car Derek opened the door and checked under the seats for a blanket and… there! Derek thought. He swiped an ocean blue comforter from the other side of the car and caringly wrapped his new friend in it. He opened the door to the front seat to find the two love birds from earlier occupying the entire front of the car, completely naked. "Come on you guys, why is everyone naked?" Derek spoke to himself, faux annoyance sliding off of his tongue with ease. He moved to the back and set the still boy across the dirty, bloodstained seat, ensuring only the blanket was touching the seat rather than the boy. Derek closed all the doors silently and when he looked back this nude boy was almost laying on his lap. Not seeing how to, or wanting to, change the situation, he stretched some of the blanket over his legs, and shut his eyes.

When Derek closed his eyes, he dreamt of those eyes, but they didn't seem to be attached to a definite body, just a silhouette. The silhouette seemed to be running through an endless forest, stumbling every now and then. Derek noticed the eyes looked angry, and they were searching for something desperately. He saw the figure disappear, and a growl ripped through the forest, tearing away the peace. The same creature that had broken the forest's fragile serenity began singing. She was singing something that sounded like Little Red Riding Hood.

**A.N. Sorry for taking so long to get this story moving, but everyone has to start somewhere. The song mentioned at the end is originally written by Sam and the Pharaohs, I believe, but the one I imagined was the cover by Amanda Siegfried. The next chapter will be quite interesting… things are different since Stiles was never a part of this city.**


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